This year I’m submitting a special quilt that’s part of a larger project I’m working on. This is one of seven quilts I’m making with my Mom’s group for graduating foster teens in the City of Alexandria.

These teens leave the foster system only with the items given to them by a proactive community member who works tirelessly on their behalf.

I was drawn to help these teens and I was thrilled when my mom’s group wanted to help! We are sewing string blocks during nap times, in the evenings, anytime we can grab a few minutes together. These women have newborns & twins, but all of us have babies under two. Once or twice a week we get together at my house & we work while the babies play (ok, & sometimes we play more than work!) I love this project because the string quilts don’t require advanced quilting skills & there’s plenty of work for non-sewers to do! In fact, we can assembly line these blocks easily where one person sews & another presses.

It means a lot to me that these teens receive the quilts. I worked with foster kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Alaska & this is what I know about them:
– These are the easily forgotten.
– They are talented at making themselves invisible.
– They have had their hearts broken numerous times.
– They are beautiful lives that deserve to be made whole again.

These quilts for them. To give them something that will keep them warm- no matter where they are sleeping. To give them something from moms in their community to let them know they are cared about. To give them a reminder that someone has not forgotten about them.